Jacqueline J. Royster

Jacqueline Jones Royster is an American academic, author, and scholar of rhetoric, literacy, and cultural studies. She is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the former Dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts from 2010 to 2019. Royster’s work often centers on the experiences and literacy practices of African American women within rhetorical history and Black feminist theory.

Education and career

Royster earned a B.A. in English from Spelman College in 1970. She has a D.A. (1975) and an M.A. (1971) in English and Linguistics from the University of Michigan.

She began her academic career teaching English at Spelman College and later at The Ohio State University. Royster taught English at Ohio State University and Spelman College. In 2010, she moved to Georgia Tech, where she served as Dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts until 2019. She has held several leadership roles, including the 1995 Chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. After stepping down as dean, Royster continued at Georgia Tech and is now a professor emerita in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication. She argued that traditional academic discourse encourages a false “illusion of objectivity” that “sanitizes” scholarship by ignoring the passions and value systems underlying our thinking. Royster’s emphasis on validating marginalized perspectives and “engaging intensely with dialectical voices” reflects a broader Black feminist aim to transform academic practice by centering voices from the margins. The Black press of the 1800s became an ally for these women, publishing their outspoken writings on civil rights. redefining what counts as evidence and who is a subject of study. Kay Siebler (2008) similarly notes that feminist rhetoricians like Royster have “reshaped the field” by infusing composition theory with diverse perspectives.

Her influence also appears in pedagogy. In Feminist Rhetorical Practices, Royster calls for an “ethos of respect and humility” when engaging with communities traditionally neglected in research.

Winner of the 2000 Conference on College Composition and Communication Richard Braddock Award

Recognized by the Modern Language Association with the Mina P. Shaughnessy Prize

Winner of the Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award

Awards and honors In 2004 Royster received the Exemplar Award from the Conference on College Composition and Communication. In 2006 she received the Frances Andrew March Award from the Modern Language Association. She was named a fellow of the Rhetoric Society of America in 2014. In 2014, she and Gesa E. Kirsch received the Winifred Bryan Horner Outstanding Book Award from the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition (CFSHRC) for her co-authored book Feminist Rhetorical Practices: New Horizons for Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies, and she received the Global Ambassador Award from Alliance Française d'Atlanta. With Jean C. Williams, she is the recipient of the 2000 Richard Braddock Award.